Brick-machine.



i. L. BUCKLEY.

BRICK MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLED NOV. 8. 1915.

Patented Dec. 5, 1916 In are/1701*. IOSEPHL BUCKLEY.

Avior/19y.

JOSEPH L. IBUCKLEY, OI DAVENPORT, IOWA.

BRICK-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Dec, 5 1916.

Application filed November 8, 1915. Serial No. 60,259.

ToaZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH L. BUCKLEY, acitizen of the United States of America, and resident of Davenport,Scott county, Iowa, have invented a certain new and useful Improvementin Brick-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in brick making machines, in whichthe bricks are out, ready for burning, from a contin'uously formedcolumn of stiff clay, and has for its object the providing of means forembossing or projecting figures in relief on one or more surfaces of theclay column, whereby a finished brick is produced, having one or more ofits faces ornamented in simulation of the barkof an oak tree, andanother object' is the afiecting of such ornamentation withoutinterruption to the continued flow .or movement of the clay column fromthe machine.-

With these objects in View, my invention consists in certain novelfeatures of construction hereinafter described and shown in theaccompanying drawing, in which Figure 1, is a'perspective view of myimproved device as applied to an ordinary stiff-mud brick machine, partsof which are diagra matically shown, and Fig. 2 is a detail 1nperspective of a portion of my improvement.

In the drawing in which similar reference characters refer to similarparts in the different views, I have illustrated the pre-' ferred formof my invention, and show same as comprising the head 3, of an ordinarystiif-mud'machine which is provided with die plate 4, through which theclay column is ejected, the column having a width and thicknesscorresponding to the length and width of a finished brick. As the meansof conveying the clay column from the machine forms no part of myinvention, any Well known moving table or .belt conveyor that will carrythe clay column in an unbroken mass from the die to the cuttingapparatus, may be employed. In the s the conveying means is diagram-;n'iatical y shown as at 5. The cutting -device, consisting of wiresunder tension; by which the clay column is cut into brick size,

may be of the usual construction, and is diagrammatically shown as at 6.

To remove the undesirable slick, silvery surface formed on the claycolumn; the

" the passage ofthe moistened mass thro i I sha ia smooth die, and toproduce the present day brick with the much desired roughened surface,it is the common practice to remove a slice of considerable thicknessfrom the upper surface and edges of the column-(as these surfaces becomethe exposed faces of the finished brick when in abuilding or otherstructure) leaving a raw and more or less ragged surface, or tear thesurface into ridges or furrows by passing same through a mass of sharppointed pins arranged in front of the die and caused to penetrate thesurface of the. clay mass to a considerable depth.

The principal object of my invention is in the providing of meanswhereby the surface of the brick, while roughenedto the desired degree,is also highly ornamented by projecting portions of' the surface ofconsiderable area in sharply defined relief, with a raw, more or lessragged surface, as a background.

While-a design of most any desired configuration could be embossed inrelief on the surface of the brick by subjecting each individual brickto the pressure of a die press, the operation is not only expensive, butthe product would oftentimes prove unsatisfactory due to the lack ofvarietyas each brick would be an exact duplicate of the other. This lackof variety would prove exceptionally objectionable in adesign simulatingoak bark. i

. In producing oak bark brick, the slick shiny surface of the claycolumn must be completely separated from the column. This is bestaccomplished by scraping the exposed surfaces of the column as it passesfrom the die. The scraps or loosened particles released by the scrapingapparatus, when the scraping apparatus is properly positioned withrespect to the edges of the die, take the form of elongated chips orshavings with their edges more or less curled up, and which arrangethemselves with more or less regularity-in rows transversely of-.the1--surface scraped. While a complete separation will thus be effected between'the scrapings and the body of the clay column, the moist stickyconsistency of the mass, affords means whereby the or scrapings maintaintheir positron re ative to the column, assumed upon leaving the scrapingapparatus.

' To straighten out the'more or less curled -up edges of the shavings,and to more securely reunite same to the body of the column, wherebythey will not become displaced when subjected to the action of thecutting wires in reducing the column to brick size, they are subjectedto pressure immediately upon formation, and after leaving the brick-sizecutting wires they are again subjected to pressure to cause them tofirmly adhere to the body of the finished brick and to square up anyedges that may have become slightly torn up or roughened by the actionof the cutting wires, thus projecting the shavin s in sharp bas relieffrom the surface of the brick, with no two brick ornamented With exactlythe same configuration. i

In the drawing I have illustrated thepreferred form of scraping andpressing means and show same as consisting of the brackets 7, which maybe secured to any convenient point on the head 3, as at 8. Thesebrackets may be ofangular form and extending through the verticalmembers 9, are the threaded eye-bolts 10. Extending across the openingin the die plate 4, and in close proximity to the upper horizontal edgethereof is the scraper 11, which may consist of a piano wire secured atits ends to the eyebolts 10,'through the medium of which it can bestretched taut by the aid of the nuts 12. To prevent bowing up of thewire at its center, to insure shavings or scrapings of uniformthickness, I provide the angle shaped bracket 13, which is secured atone end to the head 3, and has its other end in contact with the wire atabout itstenter of length. If desired, the free end of this bracket canbe madeto extend to a -point on a plane with the lower side of thescraper and have its end drawn to a knife edge ,so that it will severthe transversely extending shavings into shorter lengths and thus morethoroughly simulate the appearance of bark. The edges of the columnaresimilarly scraped by the scraping wires 14, which may also be tautlysecured in close proximity to the vertical edges Of'thfi die plate 4, byeye bolts passing through the horizontal member 15 of the bracket 7 atone end and to the bracket 16, at the other end. 1

\Vhen the clay column comes in contact with these scrapers, the surfaceis peeled off in shavingdike formation having irregu- 'lar edges more orless curled up and the surface more or less crinkled longitudinally, andarranged ma general transverse d rection in substantially parallel rowsas shown at a a it.

When the scrapers are positioned at too eat a distance from the edge ofthe die :11 toward the opening, they function more as cuttersseverin'g'an unbroken slice from the column,- thereby negativing thevery end 66, soughh that is, the formation of the shaving like portionswith their irregular outlines, crinkled surface. and curled up edges.The discovery that the wires or cutters could be positioned at a pointrelative to the surface of the column where they would cease to sliceoff an unbroken mass but func' tion as scrapers, bringing forth thesegregated, shaving like formation, I consider the important feature ofmy invention. The exact point at which the slice separated willdisintegrate into the much desired segregated shaving like formation isdependent in a large measure on the percentage of moisture in the clayand speed of travel of the column, it being the aim to produce as thicka shaving as possible. The brackets 7, and 16, may therefore beadjustably secured by providing same with the slotted holes 17, or byany other suitable means, whereby the scrapers may be properlypositioned rela tive to the surface of the column.

Immediately upon converting the surface of the column into the abovedescribed formations, means are provided to apply sufiicient pressurethereto, whereby their more or less curled up edges are flattened outand they are more thoroughly reunited to the body of the column, so thatthey may undergo the process of cutting to brick-size withoutappreciable displacement or injury. This pressure-applying means mayconsist of bracket 18, or the like, secured in any suitablemanner to theframe 19;. Hinged to bep'roduced by the use of an ordinary spring hinge. After the column has passed through the usual brick-size cuttingdevice as shown at 6, the surface is again subjected to the weightedroller 21, suitably mounted to the rear of the cutting frame, wherebythe shaving formations are firmly reunited to the body of the brick andany unevenness or roughness that may have been caused by the cuttingwires is smoothed out and obliterated, leaving the ornamentation cleancutv and in bold relief. The pressure applying means to act upon theedges of the column may consist of the rollers 22, secured to the framein any suitable manner, as by the bracket 23,

If it be desired to ornament the, face of I the finished brick but notthe ends, the rollers 22 may be removed and the scrapers 14, adjusted bvsetting same farther in from the vertical end of the die plate, so thatit will cut ofi an unbroken slice of the column, permitting same todropto the floor, from which it may be returned to the mixing'machine. Thesmooth shiny surface of the edges of the column (which become the endsof the finished brick) will thus be removedleaving a raw, more or lessroughened surface.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new is:

1. In a brick-making machine, the combination of means for continuouslyforming a plastic bar or column of clay, and a device behind the same solocated as to sever a thin slice from one face of the column andsimultaneously break the slice into irregularly-shaped fragments andallow the fragments to be deposited back upon the face from which theywere severed in irregularly-spaced relation, means for pressing theseirregularly-spaced fragments against said face to cause them to unitethereto, and means for severing the column into blocks;

2. In a brick machine, the combination of a die plate for continuouslyforming a plastic column of clay, a wire stretched behind the same insuch position as to sever a thin slice from one face ot the column andsimul-v face to cause them to unite thereto, and

means for severing the column into blocks.

Signed by me at Davenport, Iowa, this 5th day of November, 1915.

JOSEPH L. BUCKLEY.

